DRAWING WITH MACHINES

ongoing...

process and pieces from the advanced studio course in experimental drawing, generative art, and creative mechanics. Working at the boundaries of creative code, automation, and physical materials.

Currently experimenting in SVG format, I’ve been toying with code across multiple platforms and shifting between languages while moving through weekly sprints—plotting both tests and successes along the way. So far, I’ve run plots on the AxiDraw and the Bantam ArtFrame 1824. The latter, being pressure-sensitive, only accepts G-code.

Each assignment comes with its own prompts and focus areas. How I approach or solve them is fluid—it changes depending on the week, the time I can dedicate, and the challenges that arise. Learning to think through materials is an ongoing practice. The translation from idea to digital sketch, to code, and finally to plot is layered with implications and variables. It’s an iterative, twisting process, but ultimately textured in ways that I find compelling to tinker with, research, and try to better understand.

offsets and isocurves?

drawingBot's spiral sawtooth function

walking a pressure sensitive dot

LETTRES

interpretation of Vera Monar's Lettres de ma Mère .

I took different approaches, from generating what might resemble Vera's lettres (or an ekg) into code that interprets images from my mom's letters and a bit of manual editing (ops). I think the outcome varies, and I learned how to test and run my svg's. I wanted options, I got me options

UIO

offset curve assigments

Plotted the topography from probably one of the most topologically complex parts of Quito.

WALKING DOT

Bantam ArtFrame 1824 plotted

Build a program that generates randomized iterations of lines with vsketch. I selected a couple ones and converted the output svg into G-code, then added the Z-axis values within the range we were working with.

TONE COMPOSITION

Selfies from me and Mo using drawingBot's spiral sawtooth function.

A Guggenheim picture translated into a voronoi structure through grasshopper.

PATTERN COMPOSITION

Iterations on the 17 types of 2d crystallographic symetries

W7 Exploration

Spiraling through projects

For the spiral, happy Posca mistakes added thickness to the lines, the iridecense and albedo of the material come through in the animation

For the material exploration, I did a little bit of HRI because the material asked for it, water and paint on my side. Brush and path from the axidraw. The pattern that lies behind was plotted with e a Pilot G-2 pen, it made me realize that I needed the visual guidance, the machine just needed the command. I focused on the nodes, but although the code was optimized, it didn’t follow a single continuous path—it became more of a process of coincidence, on-the-spot fixing, reflection, and iteration.

Date: Fall 2025 | Location: No siteType: Solo projects | Professor: Golan Levin

Google Sites

Report abuse